Spice mill with means for infinitely setting the grinding fineness

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides a spice mill, in particular a pepper mill, having an improved design for setting the fineness of ground particles produced by the mill. Outer grinding teeth are located within a fixed seat. The fixed seat is connected to a rotating seat by means of a convex annular bead and a concave annular groove, thereby preventing movement of the rotating seat away from the fixed seat when the rotating seat is rotated in order to set the fineness of the ground particles. Inner grinding teeth are positioned within the outer grinding teeth and supported by a lift seat. Spokes on the lift seat are positioned within guide grooves located on the inner wall of the fixed seat whereby, on rotation of the rotating seat, the lift seat is moved upward or downward and the inner grinding teeth are shifted upwards or downwards, thereby setting the size and the fineness of the ground particles produced by the mill.

CLAIM FOR FOREIGN PRIORITY UNDER 37 U.S.C. § 119

[0001] This application claims foreign priority to Swiss PatentApplication No. 0361/03, filed Mar. 20, 2003.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The invention relates to a spice mill. More specifically, theinvention relates to a spice mill which may be adjusted in order to setthe fineness of the ground particles.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0003] A conventional pepper mill is shown in section in FIG. 4. Itconsists of a hollow body, which at its lower side comprises a grindingdevice 20, wherein the grinding device consists of inner and outergrinding teeth 201, 202. A connection rod 30 passes through the innergrinding teeth 201. The upper and lower ends of the connection rod 30project out of an upper terminal cap 40 and out of the inner grindingteeth 201, respectively, with the upper terminal cap 40 and innergrinding teeth 201 being incorporated in the hollow body 10. The ends ofconnection rod 30 are fastened by tightening the nuts 301 and 302, sothat on rotation of the upper terminal cap 40 the connection rods areco-rotated and the inner grinding teeth 201 likewise rotate, whereby thepepper grains are ground.

[0004] The size and the fineness of the ground pepper grains may be setby screwing in and out the nut 302, which is located at the lower end ofthe connection rod 30. This results in the movement of the innergrinding teeth upwards and downwards, which in turn allows the playbetween the inner 201 and outer 202 grinding teeth to be set, therebysetting the fineness of the ground particles.

[0005] Since, however, the nut 302 is not fastened on the connection rodwith a rigid abutment, it is possible, in the case of incorrecthandling, for the nut 302 to fall out during use. This may also occurduring rotation of the upper terminal cap for grinding the peppergrains, and, in the worst case, as a result of this the nut 302 may fallinto the food to be spiced, for example soup.

[0006] The setting of the degree of fineness by manipulating the nut302, which has to be small, is furthermore impractical and requiressignificant manual skill, which can be problematic, for example, forolder persons. In addition, the nut 302 is dirtied with particles of theproduct to be ground with each grinding procedure and an adjustment ofthe grinding fineness is not possible without the user getting dirtyfingers.

[0007] It is therefore the object of the present invention to provide amill which overcomes these disadvantages.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0008] The present invention provides a spice mill, in particular apepper mill, having an improved design for setting the fineness ofground particles produced by the mill. The inventive mill includes outergrinding teeth positioned in a circular arrangement and rigidly locatedwithin a fixed seat. A rotating seat is provided which can be engagedfrom the outside of the mill and rotated in order to set the fineness ofthe ground particles. The fixed seat is connected to the rotating seatby means of a convex annular bead and a concave annular groove, whichprevent movement of the rotating seat away from the fixed seat duringrotation. Inner grinding teeth are moveably positioned within an innercircumference of the outer grinding teeth and are supported by a liftseat, which is connected to the rotating seat by means of threaded pegwhich may be screwed into a threaded bore provided on the rotating seat.Spokes on the lift seat are engaged in vertical guide grooves located onthe inner wall of the fixed seat whereby, on rotation of the rotatingseat, the lift seat is moved upward or downward and the inner grindingteeth are shifted upwards or downwards, thereby setting the size and thefineness of the ground particles produced by the mill.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] The spice mill according to the present invention is hereinafterdescribed in combination with the drawings, wherein:

[0010]FIG. 1 illustrates an exploded view of a spice mill according tothe invention;

[0011]FIG. 2 illustrates a longitudinal section through a spice millaccording to FIG. 1 in the assembled condition;

[0012]FIG. 3 illustrates a detailed view of the grinding gear and of theadjustment mechanism of the mill according to FIGS. 1 and 2 in thelongitudinal section; and

[0013]FIG. 4 illustrates a longitudinal section of a conventional spicemill.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0014] With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, the inventive spice millincludes a housing 1, a shaft seat 2, a fixed seat 3, a grinding device4, a lift seat 5 and a rotating seat 6, wherein the housing 1 is ahollow container for accommodating the spice, for example pepper,grains. The lower end of housing 1 is assembled on the shaft seat 2,preferably by means of a screw attachment. Rotary peg 21, which runsdownwards from the middle of the shaft seat 2, is polygonal, preferablyrectangular, in cross section and is in active connection with innergrinding teeth 41, whereby rotation of housing 1 leads to the rotationof inner grinding teeth 41.

[0015] The upper end of fixed seat 3 is rotatably connected, but notaxially displaceably connected, to the shaft seat 2. Outer grindingteeth 42 are arranged in the inside of the fixed seat 3. Multiplevertical guide grooves 32 are provided on the inner surface of the fixedseat 3, near to its lower edge. An annular, concave circumferentialindentation 33 is provided below the guide grooves 32. This indentation33 is sized to receive a convex ring, or annular bead, 62 which isprovided on the rotatable seat 6.

[0016] The grinding device 4 comprises the inner grinding teeth 41 andthe outer grinding teeth 42, A continuous bore 411 is provided in themiddle of the inner grinding teeth 41. This continuous bore 411 has arectangular shape and is sized to receive the rotary peg 21. The outergrinding teeth 42 are assembled on the seat 3 in a rotationally fixedmanner and are not displaceable in the axial direction. Inner grindingteeth 41 are located on the inside of outer grinding teeth 42.

[0017] A central bore 51 is provided in the middle of the lift seat 5.This central bore is aligned with the continuous bore 41, and alsoreceives the rotary peg 21. Multiple spokes 52 run outwards from theperiphery of the lift seat 5. Each spoke 52 is allocated to a guidegroove 32 of the fixed seat 3 and is received by this guide groove 32 inthe assembled condition.

[0018] A threaded hollow peg, or tube, 53 extends downward from theouter side of the central bore 51 of the lift seat 5. Hollow peg 53 maybe correspondingly screwed into a threaded bore 61 provided in thecentral part of the rotating seat 6. The outwardly directed convexannular bead 62 is provided on the outer annular wall of the rotatingseat 6, and may be correspondingly introduced into the concave ring 33of the fixed seat 3.

[0019] As shown in FIG. 3, rotating seat 6, which may rotate in aclockwise or anti-clockwise direction, may be engaged from the outsideof the mill. In one embodiment, rotating seat 6 is engaged by means ofadjustment ring 63. The position of the rotating seat 6 is fixed in theaxial direction. The spokes 52 on the lift seat 5 are guided by way ofguide grooves 32 such that they may be moved up and down in the fixedseat 3 within defined limits. When the annular rotating seat 6 isrotated, the lift seat 5 is moved infinitely upwards or downwards alongthe central axis due to the thread design of the threaded peg 53 on thelift seat 5 and the threaded bore 61 provided in the rotating seat 6.Since the inner grinding teeth 41 are arranged on the lift seat 5, as aresult of the lifting and lowering movement of the lift seat 5, theinner grinding teeth 41 are moved upwards or downwards. The innergrinding teeth 41 are pressed downwards onto the lift seat 5 by means ofa spring 8. By changing the distance between the inner grinding teeth 41and the outer grinding teeth 42, an infinite setting of the fineness andthe size of the particles produced by grinding is achieved.

[0020] Practical trials have shown that the spice mill of the presentinvention has the following advantages:

[0021] 1. Since a convex bead and a concave annular groove are providedbetween the rotating seat 6 and the fixed seat 3, it is ensured that therotating seat 6 does not move away from the fixed seat 3 whilst it isbeing rotated.

[0022] 2. Since the fixed seat 3 is provided with guide grooves forspokes 52 on the lift seat 5, the lift seat 5 is pressed upwards ordownwards upon rotation of rotating seat 6, whereby a linear movement ofthe lift seat 5 is ensured and no deflection is caused.

[0023] 3. Since the rotating seat 6 may be engaged and rotated from theoutside, no complicated manipulation with a small nut dirtied by groundmaterial is required for infinitely setting the grinding fineness.

I claim:
 1. A spice mill comprising: (a) a housing for holding materialto be ground; (b) a shaft seat connected to a lower end of the housing,the shaft seat being provided with a rotary peg that projects downwardlyfrom the shaft seat; (c) inner grinding teeth having a circulararrangement and displaceably seated on the rotary peg, wherein the innergrinding teeth may be driven in a radial direction by the rotary peg;(d) a fixed seat positioned below, and rotatably attached to, the shaftseat; (e) outer grinding teeth having a circular arrangement and beingpositioned in proximity to an outer periphery of the inner grindingteeth, wherein the outer grinding teeth are rigidly held within thefixed seat; wherein the inner grinding teeth are displaceable in anaxial direction relative to the outer grinding teeth by means of a liftseat and a rotatable seat positioned below the inner grinding teeth. 2.The spice mill of claim 1, further comprising: (a) a convex annular beadarranged on an outer wall of the rotating seat; and (b) a concaveannular groove located on an inner wall at a lower end of the fixed seatand being sized to receive the convex annular bead, whereby insertion ofthe convex annular bead into the concave annular grove results inrotatable connection of the rotating seat to the fixed seat.
 3. Thespice mill of claim 1, wherein the lift seat is provided with aplurality of outwardly extending spokes, and wherein each of theplurality of spokes is received by one of a plurality of guide groovesprovided on an inner wall of the fixed seat.
 4. The spice mill of claim1, wherein the lift seat is provided with a central bore for receivingthe rotary peg.
 5. The spice mill of claim 1, wherein the lift seat isprovided with a downwardly extending threaded peg that may be screwedinto a threaded bore provided in the rotating seat.
 6. The spice mill ofclaim 5, wherein the rotating seat comprises an adjustment ring able tobe engaged from an exterior of the mill and wherein rotation of theadjustment ring is transmitted to the threaded bore provided in therotating seat and, by way of the threaded peg, is converted into aninfinite vertical movement of the lift seat along a central axis,whereby the inner grinding teeth are moved vertically towards or awayfrom the outer grinding teeth to change the fineness of ground particlesproduced by the mill.
 7. The spice mill of claim 1, wherein the innergrinding teeth are pressed downwards onto the lift seat by a spring. 8.The spice mill of claim 1, wherein the inner grinding teeth are providedwith a bore for receiving the rotary peg of the shaft seat, and the boreand the rotary peg each have a polygonal cross section.
 9. The spicemill of claim 8, wherein the bore and the rotary peg each have arectangular cross section.